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zelnaga · May 24, 2005, 12:18 PM

I'm trying to design a flyer in Adobe Illustrator, and am having some problems. Specifically, I'm importing, from Photoshop, images that are bigger than I'd ultimately like them to be. To fix this, I'd like to cut away (ie. crop) part of the image, but I don't know how to do that.

I guess I could do it in Photoshop, before sending the image to Illustrator, but that causes some problems. For one, I'd have to resize the image before cropping it (and I don't know how much I should resize it - 150%? 200%? something else?). I guess

Thorzdad · May 24, 2005, 01:46 PM

Are you familiar with using clipping masks in Illustrator? This can be used to visually "crop" a photo.

As far as resizing a photo in Photoshop goes, there is a nice tool that comes with OSX called ArtDirector's Toolbox. It has a handy scaling calculator so you can determine just what percentage you need to reduce an image by.

himself · May 24, 2005, 03:41 PM

If you just want to crop the image, here's what you do:

-Use the rectangle tool to draw a box (the same size and location of the part of the image you want to crop to) over the image.

-Select both the box and the image under it. From there, go to the Object > Clipping Mask menu, and select make (or hit command-7).

KeriVit · May 24, 2005, 08:48 PM

My 2 cents...

Why design a flyer in Illustrator?... It's and Illustration program, not a page layout program. Any chance you could use InDesign- easier to crop and mask and size. That's what it's made for.

Personally, I get files set up in Illustrator and it's just a nightmare.

Thorzdad · May 25, 2005, 07:45 PM

Illustrator is, frankly, a very good tool for simple layouts. People have been using for just that since day one. The type setting is very flexible and cropping and masking is just as easy to do as it is in InDesign. I use it all the time and have never had a problem with a printer.

As far as Illustrator files being nightmares...well...that comes down to poor construction by the artist. It's just as easy to put togethr a "nightmare" InDesign file as it is a "nightmare" Illustrator file.

KeriVit · May 27, 2005, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Thorzdad

Illustrator is, frankly, a very good tool for simple layouts. People have been using for just that since day one. The type setting is very flexible and cropping and masking is just as easy to do as it is in InDesign. I use it all the time and have never had a problem with a printer.

As far as Illustrator files being nightmares...well...that comes down to poor construction by the artist. It's just as easy to put togethr a "nightmare" InDesign file as it is a "nightmare" Illustrator file.

Good point. I can live with that. I'll admit- it has come a way since its inception. I guess, it's just that single page layout thing and novice user that causes issues.

Thorzdad · May 27, 2005, 01:27 PM

Originally Posted by KeriVit

...I guess, it's just that single page layout thing and novice user that causes issues.

LOL. Lord yes. I shudder to think what a printer must get from time to time from a novice Illustrator user. I imagine it's gotten far worse ever since they introduced the transparency effects.

KeriVit · May 28, 2005, 06:45 PM

Originally Posted by Thorzdad

LOL. Lord yes. I shudder to think what a printer must get from time to time from a novice Illustrator user. I imagine it's gotten far worse ever since they introduced the transparency effects.

Oh- you should only be in my shoes!!!